My boat is currently set up with a CNG stove and I'd like to make the switch over to propane.
I don't have a free spot for a vented locker and was wondering if anyone had experience mounting tanks outside. I've seen setups with a couple of 6lb tanks on the stern rail - is this considered ABYC compliant?
While it is probably fairly safe to rail mount propane tanks, provided they're not over the cockpit and the propane will drain overboard, I doubt it is ABYC compliant.
Be aware that you'll have to replace the burners if switching from CNG to propane.
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Sailingdog Telstar 28
New England
You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)
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Hi, I also have CNG and I'm curious as to why you are going to switch? My CNG cylinder is in the stern lazarette and so far I have no complaints.
Thanks, montenido
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1981 Catalina 30, "Sundance"
Channel Islands, CA
"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
-- Water Rat, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
CNG has serious availability problems, and if you're going long-term cruising outside of the USA, it is often impossible to get. Propane is pretty widely available, and where it isn't, you can often get GAZ or butane, either of which will work in a propane stove, but not in a CNG one.
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Sailingdog Telstar 28
New England
You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)
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We ran our former boat with this setup (below) for over a decade without problems, and there's no issue whatever with propane accumulation anywhere near the tanks! We bent the rings (seen at the bottom of the tanks) from 1/2" SS tubing, they were clamped to the vertical stanchion of the stern pulpit.
__________________ Boating in BC waters since the '60s, sailing since 1981. Currently on our 5th boat, a 1984 Fast/Nicholson 345.
If the tanks are going to be exposed to a lot of sea water, it would probably be best if you used COMPOSITE tanks. The fiberglass tanks won't rust or corrode, like aluminum or steel tanks.
__________________
Sailingdog Telstar 28
New England
You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.
—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)
If you're new to the Sailnet Forums... please read this POST.
If the tanks are going to be exposed to a lot of sea water, it would probably be best if you used COMPOSITE tanks. The fiberglass tanks won't rust or corrode, like aluminum or steel tanks.
Actually we had surprisingly little problem with our tanks rusting or corroding.. in fact these exposed tanks fared better than those in our current boat's traditional "propane locker" - probably due to frequent fresh water rinses (it rains a bit here) and the ability to quickly dry off.
__________________ Boating in BC waters since the '60s, sailing since 1981. Currently on our 5th boat, a 1984 Fast/Nicholson 345.
If the tanks are going to be exposed to a lot of sea water, it would probably be best if you used COMPOSITE tanks. The fiberglass tanks won't rust or corrode, like aluminum or steel tanks.
I wonder about UV, though.
Although I'd worry more about the propane lines and UV. It would be good to sleeve them with some material (hollow dacron webbing?)
Faster's tanks look better than the ones we have for our home BBQ...